Sec. 102. Marine highways
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Section 55601 of title 46, United States Code, is amended— in the section heading, by striking and inserting Short sea transportation program ; Marine highways program by redesignating subsections
(a)through
(g)as subsections
(c)through (i), respectively; by inserting before subsection (c), as redesignated by paragraph (2), the following: Congress makes the following findings: Our Nation’s waterways are an integral part of our transportation network. River transportation is the most efficient form of bulk transportation, the safest mode of transportation, and more environmentally friendly than other forms of transportation. Using the Nation’s waterways—coastal, inland, and others that can support commercial transportation, alleviates surface transportation congestion and burdensome road and bridge repair costs. Marine highways are serviced by documented United States Flag vessels and manned by United States citizens, providing added resources for national security and to aid in times of crisis. According to the United States Army Corps of Engineers, inland navigation is a key element of economic development and is essential in maintaining economic competitiveness and national security. The term marine highway project means planned or contemplated new services, or expansions of existing services, on marine highway routes, that seek to provide new modal choices to shippers, offer more desirable services, reduce transportation costs, or provide public benefits, which include reduced air emissions, reduced road maintenance costs, connectivity, and improved safety or resiliency impacts. The term marine highway route means commercially navigable coastal, inland, or intracoastal waters of the United States (including connections between United States ports and Canadian ports and non-contiguous United States ports). ; in subsection (c), as redesignated by paragraph (2)— by inserting , to be known as the after America’s Marine Highway program , transportation program ; by striking short sea transportation projects and inserting marine highway projects ; and by striking mitigate landside congestion or to promote short sea transportation and insert provide an alternative to transportation or to promote short sea transportation ; in subsection (d), as redesignated by paragraph (2), by striking paragraph
(1)and inserting the following: vessels documented under chapter 121 of this title ; by striking subsection (e), as redesignated by paragraph (2), and inserting the following: Not later than 60 days after the date the Secretary receives a request for designation of a new marine highway route or extension of an existing marine highway route from an eligible requester as described in paragraph (4), the Secretary shall make a determination whether to designate or extend such marine highway route as an integrated part of the surface transportation system and increase public and private efforts to use the waterways as an alternative to coastal or inland highway corridors or to promote short sea transportation. Not later than 7 days after the date on which the Secretary makes the determination whether to designate or extend a marine highway route under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall send the eligible requester a notification of the determination. The Secretary may collect and disseminate data for the designation and delineation of short sea transportation routes, naming them as the United States Marine Highway Routes . A request for designation of a new marine highway route or extension of an existing marine highway route may be submitted to the Secretary, by— the Governor of an affected State; an official Tribal resolution of an Indian tribe (as defined in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act ( 25 U.S.C. 5304 )), or a consortium of Indian tribes; a State Department of Transportation; a Port Authority; a metropolitan planning organization; or any other comparable elected or politically appointed representative, as determined by the Secretary. Each marine highway route, if practicable, shall be numbered in terms of the specific landside transportation routes (road or railway) that it parallels or to which it connects. Not later than 120 days after the date of enactment of the Maritime Administration Authorization and Improvement Act, and thereafter each time a marine highway route is amended or added, the Secretary shall make publically available a map showing the location of marine highway routes along the coasts, in the inland waterways, and at sea. ; in subsection (f), as redesignated by paragraph (2)— in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking short sea transportation project and inserting marine highway project ; and by striking paragraph
(1)and inserting the following: provides an alternative to landside transportation; or ; in subsection (g), as redesignated by paragraph (2)— in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking short sea transportation project designated under this section, the Secretary may and inserting marine highway project designated under this section, the Secretary shall ; and in paragraph (3), by striking short sea transportation program and inserting marine highways program ; in subsection (h), as redesignated by paragraph (2), in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking may develop and inserting shall develop ; in subsection (i), as redesignated by paragraph (2)— by redesignating paragraph
(3)as paragraph (10); in paragraph (1)— by striking a short sea transportation grant program and inserting a marine highway grant program ; and by striking subsection
(d)and inserting subsection
(f); and by striking paragraph
(2)and inserting the following: To be eligible for assistance under this section, an applicant shall submit an application, in such form, and containing such information and assurances as the Administrator may require, not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of the appropriations Act for the fiscal year concerned. Each application submitted under paragraph
(1)shall include a comprehensive description of— regions served; the marine highway route that the project will use, which may include connection to existing or planned transportation infrastructure and intermodal facilities, key navigational factors such as available draft, channel width, bridge air draft, or lock clearance, and any foreseeable impacts on navigation or commerce, and a map of the proposed route; project supporters, which may include including business affiliations, private sector stakeholders, State Departments of Transportation, metropolitan planning organizations, municipalities, or other governmental entities (including Tribal governments), as applicable; estimated volume of passengers or cargo; the need for the project; the definition of the success goal for the project, such as volumes of cargo or passengers moved, or contribution to environmental mitigation, safety, reduced VMT, or reduced maintenance and repair costs; the methodology for implementing the project, including a description of the proposed operational framework of the project including the origin, destination, and any intermediate stops on the route, transit times, vessel types, and service frequency; and any existing programs or arrangements that can be used to supplement or leverage assistance under the program. The Administrator shall post a Notice of Funding Opportunity regarding grants awarded under this section not more than 15 days after the date of enactment of the appropriations Act for the fiscal year concerned. The Administrator shall award grants under this section not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of the appropriations Act for the fiscal year concerned. Notwithstanding paragraph (4), amounts awarded as a grant under this section that are not expended by the grantee shall remain available to the Administrator for use for grants under this section. Not more than 3 percent of amounts made available to carry out the program may be used for the necessary costs of grant administration. The Administrator, in consultation with the Office of the Inspector General, shall issue guidelines to establish appropriate accounting, reporting, and review procedures to ensure that— grant funds are used for the purposes for which they were made available; grantees have properly accounted for all expenditures of grant funds; and grant funds not used for such purposes and amounts not obligated or expended are returned. The Administrator may not award a grant under this section unless the Administrator determines that— sufficient funding is available to meet the matching requirements of paragraph (10); the project will be completed without unreasonable delay; and the recipient has authority to carry out the proposed project. Information of a confidential nature, such as proprietary or classified information, provided to a United States firm pursuant to this section shall be protected. Such information may be released by a United States firm only after written approval by the Secretary. ; and by adding at the end the following: Grants awarded under this section may not be used to raise sunken vessels, construct buildings, or other physical facilities or to acquire land. The Administrator may not award more than 25 percent of the funds appropriated to carry out this section for any fiscal year to any project in one geographic location. All grantees under this section shall maintain such records as the Administrator may require and make such records available for review and audit by the Administrator. . Section 55602 of title 46, United States Code, is amended, in subsection (a), by striking short sea transportation project and inserting marine highway project . Section 55604 of title 46, United States Code, is amended— by redesignating paragraphs
(1)through
(3)as paragraphs
(4)through (6), respectively; and by inserting before paragraph (4), as redesignated by paragraph (1), the following: the economic importance of marine highways transportation to the United States economy; the importance of marine highways to rural areas; identifying pairs of United States regions and territories, and within-region areas, that do not yet have marine highway projects underway, but that could benefit from the establishment of marine highway services; ; and in paragraph (6), as redesignated by paragraph (1), by striking short sea transportation projects and inserting marine highway projects . Section 55605 of title 46, United States Code, is amended to read as follows: In this chapter, the term short sea transportation means the carriage of bulk or containerized cargo, passengers, or freight by a United States documented vessel that is— loaded at a port in the United States and unloaded either at another port in the United States or at a port in Canada; or loaded at a port in Canada and unloaded at a port in the United States. . Beginning on the date of enactment of this title, the Secretary of Transportation may allow grant recipients to expend Federal funds to complete projects under the grant programs carried out under sections 54101, 55601, and 50302 of title 46, United States Code, before expending any required non-Federal funds.
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